ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Mike Shanahan had made Denver his family's permanent home well before Broncos owner Pat Bowlen declared Shanahan to be his team's "coach for life."

Shanahan's tenure proved to be shorter than that, of course, after a series of late-season collapses and blown postseason opportunities led Bowlen to fire him in 2008 after 14 seasons as the Broncos' head coach.

But even though four-and-a-half years have passed since he last coached a game in Denver, there is much about this city that still feels like home to Shanahan.

He still has his 35,000-square foot mansion in Cherry Hills Village, the prestigious suburb just south of Denver, and his Shanahan's steakhouse, which rivals Elway's and Del Frisco's for the fanciest meal in town. Both the home and the restaurant were still under construction during Shanahan's final year in Denver.

"I didn't know I was getting fired, so I had the restaurant going up either way," Shanahan told reporters in Denver this week. "We felt like with the kids being raised there, and still a lot of family going back and forth, we kept the house, and I'm glad we did."

But this weekend, Shanahan will be a guest for the first time in his former home stadium, Sports Authority Field at Mile High, when his Washington Redskins play the Broncos.

Shanahan will hardly recognize his former team. Only four players remain on Denver's 53-man roster from the team Shanahan left behind. Two of those players, cornerback Champ Bailey and guard Chris Kuper, aren't expected to play because of injuries. The other two are linebacker Wesley Woodyard and kicker Matt Prater. Shanahan also drafted left tackle Ryan Clady, who is on injured reserve.

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The Falcons look to make it two wins in a row against the struggling Cardinals. (Photo: USA TODAY Sports)

Last week it was Peyton Manning's homecoming in Indianapolis. This week it's Mike Shanahan returning to Denver, where he won two Super Bowls, when the Redskins and Colts square off. (Photo: USA TODAY Sports)

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None of Shanahan's former Broncos assistants remain as part of John Fox's staff, and there has been massive turnover in the personnel department as well. The most familiar face to Shanahan might be Broncos boss John Elway — who is now running the team instead of quarterbacking it.

Elway and Shanahan are inextricably linked as the two men most credited with bringing the Broncos their pair of Super Bowl victories, Elway as the Hall of Fame quarterback and Shanahan the mastermind coach. Elway distanced himself from the organization in the decade or so after he retired, pursuing other business interests. Denver, while being a consistent playoff team throughout the early part of the 2000s, won only one playoff game without him before Shanahan was fired.

Shanahan said Wednesday that he remains friends with both Bowlen and Elway, whom he played golf with earlier this year.

"We spent a lot of time together and were able to accomplish a lot together, so we've got some great memories with each other," Shanahan said.

The Broncos have prepared a short tribute video to honor Shanahan when the Redskins are introduced before Sunday's game. Though the home crowd might boo Washington's players, Shanahan is hoping he'll receive some cheers.

Given the disastrous two-year tenure of Shanahan's replacement, Josh McDaniels, Denver fans should have even more reason to cheer their former head coach.

Time, and the arrival of Peyton Manning, has helped erase negative feelings from the end of Shanahan's run in Denver. His final Broncos team had the league's second-ranked offense, which was built around quarterback Jay Cutler, wide receiver Brandon Marshall and Clady. The defense, however, was one of the league's worst. The Broncos lost their final four games of the 2008 season, squandering a four-game lead to the San Diego Chargers, who sent Shanahan into the sunset with a 52-21 beatdown that gave the Bolts the AFC West title.

"It makes you mad when we lost to Pittsburgh (in 2005 AFC Championship Game) that we didn't take advantage of the opportunity, or the last two out of three years when you lose the last game and not even get a chance to go to the playoffs," Shanahan said.

He has been to the playoffs once in his first three seasons with Washington, losing in the wild-card round last season when quarterback Robert Griffin III was re-injured against the Seattle Seahawks.

Manning met with Shanahan in Denver last year during the quarterback's free agent odyssey. But just before they convened, the Redskins made a mega-trade with the St. Louis Rams which allowed them to draft RG3 second overall, effectively ending Washington's pursuit of Manning.

Who knows if a Manning-Shanahan partnership would have happened? Shanahan told reporters in Washington recently he didn't think Manning would have chosen an NFC East team because it would've have pitted him against younger brother Eli's New York Giants at least twice per season. But Peyton Manning still appreciated the conversations he had with both Shanahan and his son, Kyle (Washington's offensive coordinator), during their visit.

"He's a guy that I knew and respected and had a football relationship with, and I enjoyed sitting down with him and Kyle," Manning said. "(We) talked a lot of football."